Time limit relay

ABSTRACT

A motor-driven time limit relay including electromagnetically controlled relay contacts, in which motor driving and contact control sections are separated by a base plate. The electromagnet of the contact control section is secured laterally to one side of said base plate. The yoke extends from an end secured to the electromagnet core to the other end, along upper face of the magnet and, at the extended end of the yoke, an armature is pivoted. A plate actuator likewise extends above the magnet and is coupled at one end to the armature for integral movement with the latter. The other free end of the actuator is normally biased to its lower position of the armature&#39;&#39;s de-attracted state. A sliding member for controlling the relay contacts positioned above the actuator is slidably mounted to a guide means secured to the other opposite end of the magnet to the armature, and is coupled to the free end of the actuator. Upward movement of the actuator free end at the time of armature attraction allows the sliding member to slide upward for relaying operation, but the sliding is normally locked by a locking lever secured to the guide means until a preset limited time reaches.

[l5] 3,662,299 .May 9, 1972 United States Patent Maruchi et al.

[54] TIME LIMIT RELAY Primary Examiner-Harold Broome memos: Km. Munch;Jim Y I Y I Anomey-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydlg, Vo1t&Qsann Tatsuml; MslyasuWaltlta; Tadshi Yamayolhi, all of' Kadoma, Japan [57] ABSTRACT Amotor-driven time limit rel v. d8 8 mfi hm mm CmdH W e" ."0 an X hm cerate n hm dh f Tam e 0 3% 1 m C m flfir W or O e UO ".mhm mk m am m mdd Swever b m h m ile no e .mm mm m wmabkwum 8 d m nm .m l tm V n GO mumawmm ,P

controlled relay contacts, in

control sections are separ tromagnet of the contact co one side of saidbaseplate. The

secured to the electromagnet co upper face of the magnet and an armatureis pivoted. A

above the magnet and is coupled at one end to the armature for integralmovement with the latter. The other free end of the actuator is normallybiased to its lower mature's de-attracted state. A slidin the relaycontacts positioned above the actuator is slidabl mounted to a guidemeans secured to the other 0 a 3A w 5 2 5 1. m m w 1 2 M 5 .L m 1 4 9 mw. w M8 mm m 3 "3 M 1 W wm h I. mm 7 Mn U H m w a m ma 3 h A 1 m .1. n om D. Sin A F A UhF T N. U ufi .l l. i [.ll.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS y pposite end of the magnet tothe armature, and iscoupled to the free end of the actuator. Upwardmovement of the actuator free end at the time of armature attractionallows the slidin -slide upward for relaying operation,

g member to but the sliding is normally 0 the guide means until a 0 l cd u P 11 45 99 .ll i ZW 38 80 25 65 35 25 22 369 4/ wolfgangm locked bya locking lever secured t 3 548 6 seats preset limited time reaches. 3288 10/197] Little et al.

5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEBHAY 9 I972 SHEET 1 OF 6 J/VVENTORSlmsu/w MARI/CHI (J/R0 YATAKA YASU/(AZU Emu/w Masnmsu Wax/r4 ATTORNEYS mPATENTEUMM 91972 662 299 sum 2 0F 6 1-vs-roRs KATSUM/ MARUCH/ Jmo Yam/mYnsumzu fimsuml MASAYASU WAKITA TADA.SH/ YAMAYosH/ BY %%,M-J, Vow-mad IATTORNEYS m PATENTEW 9 1972 3,662,299

SHEET 5 [IF 6 I NVENTORS KATSUMI MARUCHI JIRO YATAKA .YASUKAZU TnrsumMASAYASU WAKITA TAD/05H! Kmnrosm ATTORNEYS w minimum 9 m2 SHEET 6 BF 6INVENTORS Kn rsl/M/ MnRz/cH/ Jmo YAmKA YAsuKAzu. 72:13am Mnsnmsu WAKITATAOASHI Kan/W08 4 BY 44.1mm;

TTORNEYS m This invention relates to time limit relays, and, moreparticularly, to an improvement in timers in which electric relay isoperated at a limited time period.

In conventional motor-driven time limit relays, individual componentialparts such as motor driving means, contact make-break means and clutchmeans are combined in complicated manners. Thus, if thereoccurs anytrouble with any one of such parts, much time must be wasted forrepairing works. Furthermore, such trouble may occur frequently due to agreat number of parts used in the respective means.

According to the present invention, such disadvantages as above areeliminated by combining such parts into blocks and disposing such blocksin a rational way.

The primary object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a timelimit relay, which is easy to assemble and inspect and is compact insize.

Another object of this invention is to provide time limit relay whichhas stable contact pressure and permits instantaneous ON-OFF operationof contacts.

Another object of this invention is to provide time limit relay whichmakes positive relational operation of a slider plate for drivingcontacts to a lock means for locking said slider plate during the periodof limited time.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a time limit relaywhich has a clutch mechanism permitting positive engagement with a smallforce with a motor being driven and easy change of setting during theperiod of limited time with a small force.

The present invention shall now be explained in detail with reference toa preferred embodimentas illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a time limit relay of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the time limit relay of this inventionwith the case and mounting metal member removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of terminal section as seen from the backthereof in FIG. 2;

F IG. 4A is a plan view of the time limit relay in FIG. 2, FIG. 4B is aleft side view of the relay shown in'FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4C is a rightside view of the same;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of contact make-break member with allcomponents disassembled; and

FIGS. 6A and 6B, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory views of theoperations of the time limit relay of this invention.

In FIG. 1, l is a dial case, 2 is a knob attached to said dial case, 3is an indicator rotated with said knob, 4 is a case, and 5 is a mountingmetal member. 7

FIG. 2 shows the time limit relay with the case 4 and the mounting metal5 as removed from the dial case 1. 6 represents a body ofthe time limitrelay.

. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a terminal section 9 as removed fromthe body 6. The body 6 is divided into a motor driving section A and acontact control section B which are coupled to each other by a baseplate 7, on which they are mounted, respectively. The base plate 7 isjoined to the dial case. 1 by means of mounting metals 8. FIG. 5 chieflyshows a contact control mechanism with all parts disassembled. In FIG.5, 10 represents an electromagnet, 11 is a coil bobbin, 12 is a core,and 13 is an L-shaped yoke fixed to said core 12. 14 represents armaturemounting lugs provided on both sides at one end of the yoke 13. 15represents an armature provided with cut-outs 16 on both side walls,said amature is rotatably mounted to the yoke 13 with the cut-outs 16engaged with the lugs 14. 17 is a recess provided at the upper edge ofthe armature, into which the body of an L-shaped actuator 18 is set.Said actuator 18 is fixed to the armature 15 at a bent portion 19 bywelding or some other means. 20 represents a projection of the actuator18, likely 21 is a longitudinal slit, 22 is a forward end, 23 is arecess made at said forward end 22, 24 is a hole for engaging an end ofa spring 26, and 25 is a stub-like projection for hanging thereto an endof a spring 27. 28 represents a U-shaped guide plate having upper andlower bent portions 30 and 31 at both ends of the body 29, said bentportions having respectively grooves 32 and 33, and the body 29 isprovided with an aperture 34 and vertical slits 35 and 36 at both sidesof the aperture 34. The body 29 further has an arm 37 formed by bendingat one side thereof, said arm having a mounting hole 38. 39 representsmounting screws for the guide plate 28 and 40 are washers.

41 is a sliding plate, which has metal arms 42 extending substantiallyin parallel to each other and having stepped shoulders 43 as bent at theupper portion. The shoulders 43 are coupled to a stopper plate 44 ofinsulating material located above. Said stopper plate 44 is provided atthe upper portion with a pair of L-shaped drivers 45. Lower portions ofthe arms 42 are coupled to a leg 46 of insulating material. A hole 47for mounting the other end of the spring 26 is made in the leg 46.

49 is an actuating lever for actuating the sliding plate 41. Lowerportion of L-shaped body 50 of the lever is bent so as to form a lockingarm 51, which has a cut-out 53 at the forward end. The other end of thebody 50 forms an arm 52. The body 50 further has a mounting hole 54. Atubular member 55 carrying therein a shaft pin 56 is mounted on thelever 49 with the pin 56 inserted in the hole 54 through a washer 57.

58 is a gear wheel having adjacent its periphery a projection 59.

60 is a contacting member, comprising a supporting base 61 of insulatingmaterial, fixed contact arms 62 and upper and lower movable contact arms63 and 64. v

65 is a clutch arm, which is provided with a hole 66 extending throughits body, in which a shaft 67 is inserted. 68 represents a springcarried on an extended end of the shaft 67. 69 is a clutch arm, where ahole 70 is made.

71 and 72 represent gear wheels connected to each other with a shaft 73.

Now, the assembled structure of the contact control mechanism will beexplained with reference'to'FIGS. 4A, 4B and4Cand FIG. 5. Y i g The yoke13 for the electromagnet 10 is fixed to the has plate 7 and the lugs 14on the yoke is loosely fitted in the cutouts 16 of the armature 15,respectively. The actuating plate 18 is fixed preliminarily to thearmature 15. The spring 27 is engaged at the right end with theprojection 25 of the actuator 18, and at the other end with theprojection 74 on the yoke 13. After passing the sliding plate 41 throughthe grooves 32, 33 in the guide plate 28 from the leg 46, the forwardend 22-of the actuator 18 is inserted into the aperture 34 on the guideplate 28. The mounting screws 39 are inserted into the vertical slits 35on the guide plate 28 through the washers 40, and the tops of the screws39 are screwed in the holes 41" of the yoke 13. Then, the contact member60 is fixed to the base plate 7 at the side of the supporting base 61.The upstanding drivers 45 at the upper portion of the sliding plate 41is disposed between the upper and lower movable contact arms 63 and 64.

Passing the shaft pin 56 through the mounting hole 38 of the arm 37 ofthe guide plate 28, through the tubular pipe 55 and through the mountinghole 54 in the actuating lever 49, the lever 49 is rotatably fixed tothe guide plate 28. The gear wheel 58 is also rotatably mounted on theback of the dial case 1. The shaft 67 supported between the base plate 7and the back of the dial case 1 is passed through the hole 66 in theclutch plate 65, and through the spring 68. The spring 68 is engaged atone end with the hole 74 in the clutch plate 65, and at the other endwith a hole in the base plate 7. The shaft 73 is passed at an endcarrying the gear 71 through the hole 70 of the arm 69 of the clutchplate 65 and at the other end carrying the gear 72 through a holeprovided in the'base plate 7. FIGS.

4A to 4C show such arrangement as above. Under this condition, the gearwheel 72 is in mesh with a gear wheel directly coupled to a motor 76 inthe motor driving section A. The shaft 73 is born between the base plate7 and the clutch arm 65. The gear wheel 71 is normally out of mesh withthe gear wheel 58, since the clutch arm 65 is normally pushed up by aprojection 20 of the actuating plate 18 (see FIG. 4C). The armature 15joined integrally with the actuating plate 18 by means of the spring 27is normally separated from the core 12 of the electromagnet 10, and theforward end 22 of the actuating plate 18 is engaged with the steppedshoulders 43 of the sliding plate 41. Thus, the latter is biaseddownward by the resiliency of the spring 27. The drivers 45 of thesliding plate 41 are brought into contact at the lower edges thereofwith the moving contact arms 64 and, thereby, the movable-contact arms63 carried on the upper edge of the drivers 45 are allowed to be incontact at their movable contacts 63' with the fixed contacts 62' so asto be ON state, whereas the other movable contacts 64' are kept in theirOFF state. Further, under this condition, the actuating lever 49 is inengagement at the lower end tip of the locking arm 51 with the steppedshoulders 43 of the sliding plate 41, by the tension of a spring 75which is fixed at an end and engaged at the other end to the actuatinglever 49 so as to bias the same in the direction of an arrow shown inFIG. 6A, so that the sliding plate 41 is prevented from being movedupward, that is, the plate is locked in its lower position. Theprojection 59 of the gear wheel 58 at this timeis spaced from the otherarm 52 of the actuating lever 49. The above described state is shown inFIG. 6A.

Now, the operation of the relay according to the present invention willbe described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

When an electric current is fed to the electromagnet l and to the motorwith the dialing knob 2 set at a desired measurement, the motor isrotated and its rotation is transmitted to the gear wheel 71. When thecore of the electromagnet 10 is excited and the armature is attracted bythe core, the armature 15 is pulled into engagement with the coreagainst the biasing force of the spring 27. Since this also causes theprojection on the actuating plate 18 coupled to the armature 15 to bedrawn toward the core, the arm 69 of the clutch arm 65 is sequentiallymade to swing toward the removed armature 15 due to the biasing force ofthe spring 68, so that the gear 71 on the shaft 73 supported by the arm69 is brought into engagement with the gear wheel 58, thereby the wheel58 is started to rotate. Consequently, the projection 59 on the wheelinitiates to rotate in the direction of an arrow shown in FIG. 68.

On the other hand, the forward end 22 of the actuating plate 18 is inits pulled-up position at this time due to the attraction of thearmature 15, so that the sliding plate 41 is under the upward biasingforce imparted by the spring 26 hung between the both plates 18 and 41.However, since the sliding plate 41 is still locked by the locking arm51 of the lever 49 engaged on the shoulders 48, the sliding plate 41cannot be moved upward.

After the laps of the preset desired time period, the rotatingprojection 59 of the gear wheels 58 abuts against the arm 52 of theactuating lever 49, so that the lever 49 is swung and its locking arm 51is moved away from the shoulders 48, thereby the locking engagement ofthe lever 49 with the sliding plate 41 is released and, thus, thesliding plate 41 is caused to move upward due to the spring 26.Consequently, the drivers 45 on the sliding plate 41 thus lifted allowthe both upper and lower movable contact arms 63 and 64 to besimultaneously shifted upward, so that the contacts 62' and 64' will bein ON state while the contacts 62' and 63 will be in OFF state.

Now, various features of the relay according to the present inventionwill be described.

According to the present invention, the time limit relay having theabove described structure can be assembled more easily with a higherreliability, since the motor driving section A is disposed at one sideof the base plate 7 and the contact control section B is disposed at theother side of the base plate, in particular, the latter contact controlsection B being assembled in such-that the electromagnet 10 laterallyfixed to the base plate 7 is associated at one end with the armature 15as mounted to the yoke 13 and at the other end with the sliding plate 41through the guide plate 28 fixed to said end, said sliding plate 41 isadapted to move upward and downward is response to the attration anddeattraction of the armature 15 through the actuating lever 18 extendingover the electromagnet 10 and integrally coupled to the armature 15 forcontrolling the contact operation of the contact arms 62-64 disposedabove the electromagnet 10, and the sliding plate 41 normally locked bythe actuating lever 49 pivoted to one side of the guide plate 28 isreleased by the actuation of the lever 49 at a preset limited time bythe rotation of the motor when the armature is attracted.

According to the invention, further, the relative position of the guideplate 28 to the electromagnet 10 can be selectively varied so as toallow gaps between movable and fixed contacts to be freely adjusted,since the plate 28 is fixed through the vertically extending slits 35provided in the body 29.

The sliding plate 41 according to the present invention is slidablymounted in the upper and lower grooves 32 and 33 of the guide plate 28and is normally biased upward by means of the spring 26 coupling theplate 41 and the actuating plate 18. The engaging end 22 of the latterplate 18 in turn is normally biased downward by the spring 27 and thesliding plate 41 is locked in its consequential downward position by thelocking arm 51 of the actuating lever 49. Such downward movement andupward movement when the lock is released of the sliding plate 41 isoccurred in the both grooves 32, 33 and, thus, the upward and downwardmoving directions of the plate 41 are always accurate. In combinationwith the adjustable feature of the guide plate 28, thus, it is possibleto obtain stable contact pressure even after repeated use and to havethe ON-OFF contact operations carried out successively for many times inthe accurate manner.

According to the present invention, the actuating lever 49 is rotatablyfixed to the integral arm 37 of the guide plate 28, so that the relativeopposing position of the locking arm 51 of the lever 49 to the shoulders48 of the sliding plate can be adjusted simultaneously integrally withthe guide plate 28, while maintaining the position of the arm 51 alwaysin the most suitable relation to the shoulders 48. Thus, it is possibleto achieve accurate timed operation of the contacts without any faultyoperation. I

Further according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B,the anglea formed by a line connecting between both holes 70 and 66 inthe clutch arm 65 and a line connecting between the hole 70 and therotary center of the gear wheel 58 is made to be greater than an angle Bformed by the line between the hole 70 and the rotary center of thewheel 58 and a line 2 of engaging action of the both gear wheels 58 and71. With this arrangement, the both gears 58 and 71 are kept in theirstrong engagement during when the gear 71 is transmitting the drivingforce to the wheel 58 even with a smaller pressure imparted from thegear 71 to the wheel 58. Thus, it is possible to rotate manually thewheel 58 for varying the setting of the time limit only with a smallforce required while the wheel is being rotated by the motor. Thus,there are applied no undully extra pressing and turning forces to theboth gear wheels, whereby any fluctuations or changes of the gearrotation due to peeling-off or wearing of gears or damages thereof byexternal shock are prevented from occurring.

Discussing the above more in detail with reference to FIG. 7, FIG. 7Ashows how the both gear wheels 58 and 71 are engaged to each other andhow the rotating force of the motor is transmitted from the latter tothe former. When the rotating force is thus conveyed, a force F as areactive force is applied in the direction of a line of action 2 to thegear face of the gear wheel 71 by the gear wheel 58. Component force Fnof the force F occurring in the direction at right angle with theconnecting line between the rotary centers of the gear 71 and the clutcharm 65 is shown to be a force pulling the gear 71 as a driving gear intoengagement with the wheel 58 as the follower gear. Thus, after the bothgear wheels are once brought into engagement with each other, the gearwheel 71 does not fail this engagement. This results in that the clutcharm requires only a spring force which is good enough to bias the arm incounterclockwise direction when the arm is swung so as to bring the gear71 into engagement with the wheel 58. Thus, the impact force given tothese gears is small and, consequently, any possible wear or damageoccurring thereto can be effectively reduced. I

FIG. 7B shows'relations of the forces in the case when the time-limitsetting is changed intentionally to make the remaining limited time tobe shorter during the time-limiting operation is carried on with respectto the both gear wheels 58 and 71 in engagement with each other. Whenthe gear wheel 58 is rotated in the direction of the arrow for changingthe time limit setting, the rotating force will act as represented by aforce F on the gear face of the gear wheel 71 which is in mesh with thewheel 58 in the line of action. Component force F of the force F, inright angle to a line connecting the respective rotary centers of thegear wheel 71 and the clutch arm 65 will become a force that pushes upthe gear wheel 71. Accordingly, this force acts in the direction thatthe gear wheel 71 is disengaged from the gear wheel 58-of the followerside and, thus, the change of time limit setting is enabled withouttransmitting such external rotating force applied to the wheel 58 to themotor.

What is claimed is:

l. A time limit relay comprising a motor driving section fixed to oneside of a base plate and a contact control section fixed to the otherside of said base plate and adapted to receive from said motor drivingsection its rotary force, said contact control section comprising anelectromagnet fixed to said base. plate, an armature rotatably mountedto an end of the yoke of said electromagnet, an actuator integrallycoupled to said armature, said actuator being disposed above theelectromagnet and extending in longitudinal direction from said end tothe other of the electromagnet as terminating at a free end, a guidemeans mounted to said the other end of the electromagnet, and a slidingplate arranged slidably along said guide means, said sliding plate beingengaged at the upper section with forward free end of respective contactarms of a contact mechanism disposed above and in longitudinal direction.of the electromagnet and at the lower section with a locking mechanismfor the sliding plate which operatively cooperates with a follower gearwheel driven as coupled to'the motor driving section being driven, andsaid sliding plate being actuated by said free end of the actuator.

2. A time limit relay according to claim 1, in which said guide means isprovided at both sides of its body part with a pair of vertical slitsextending parallelly to each other, and is mounted to the yoke of theelectromagnet by means of screws respectively passed through said slits.

3. A time limit relay according to claim 1, in which said free end ofthe actuator is adapted to abut an upper stepped shoulder provided inthe sliding plate, and said actuator and and sliding plate are coupledtogether through a compression spring means.

4. A time limit relay according to claim 1, in which said guide means isprovided with an integral arm, and said arm supports rotatably anactuating lever having a locking arm adapted to engage and disengage alower stepped shoulder provided in the sliding plate.

5. A time limit relay according to claim I, in which said lockingmechanism is driven through a clutch arm rotatably supporting a drivinggear at its rockable arm end, and said clutch arm is arranged in suchthat an angle a formed between a line connecting the rocking center'ofthe clutch arm and the rotary center of said driving gear and a lineconnecting said driving gear rotary center and the rotary center of thefollower gear wheel is larger than an angle [3 formed between said lineconnecting the driving gear rotary center and a line of action Z ofmeshing engagement of the both gears.

1. A time limit relay comprising a motor driving section fixed to oneside of a base plate and a contact control section fixed to the otherside of said base plate and adapted to receive from said motor drivingsection its rotary force, said contact control section comprising anelectromagnet fixed to said base plate, an armature rotatably mounted toan end of the yoke of said electromagnet, an actuator integrally coupledto said armature, said actuator being disposed above the electromagnetand extending in longitudinal direction from said end to the other ofthe electromagnet as terminating at a free end, a guide means mounted tosaid the other end of the electromagnet, and a sliding plate arrangedslidably along said guide means, said sliding plate being engaged at theupper section with forward free end of respective contact arms of acontact mechanism disposed above and in longitudinal direction of theelectromagnet and at the lower section with a locking mechanism for thesliding plate which operatively cooperates with a follower gear wheeldriven as coupled to the motor driving section being driven, and saidsliding plate being actuated by said free end of the actuator.
 2. A timelimit relay according to claim 1, in which said guide means is providedat both sides of its body part with a pair of vertical slits extendingparallelly to each other, and is mounted to the yoke of theelectromagnet by means of screws respectively passed through said slits.3. A time limit relay according to claim 1, in which said free end ofthe actuator is adapted to abut an upper stepped shoulder provided inthe sliding plate, and said actuator and and sliding plate are coupledtogether through a compression spring means.
 4. A time limit relayaccording to claim 1, in which said guide means is provided with anintegral arm, and said arm supports rotatably an actuating lever havinga locking arm adapted to engage and disengage a lower stepped shoulderprovided in the sliding plate.
 5. A time limit relay according to claim1, in which said locking mechanism is driven through a clutch armrotatably supporting a driving gear at its rockable arm end, and saidclutch arm is arranged in such that an angle Alpha formed between a lineconnecting the rocking center of the clutch arm and the rotary center ofsaid driving gear and a line connecting said driving gear rotary centerand the rotary center of the follower gear wheel is larger than an angleBeta formed between said line connecting the driving gear rotary centerand a line of action Z of meshing engagement of the both gears.